Page 15 of The Devil and His Sparrow

“No, thank you,” I gritted out.

“Come on,” Xander sang, leaning close. “We—”

“Xander.”

The three of us whipped our heads to find Zagan walking toward us. The lead singer gave his bandmate a stiff smile. “I believe Iyla said no.”

Xander pulled back and stepped aside. I quickly moved past him and closer to Zagan.

The guitarist laughed and said, “All yours. I get it. I’ll take mine and leave then.” He opened the door to the room everyone else was in, disappearing with Parker.

I stood frozen to the spot with only the muffled moans and pop music filling my ears. My heart was still in my throat from everything that I’d just witnessed, plus Xander’s uncomfortable presence, and it rendered me a statue.

“Want some air?”

I looked up at Zagan and found his eyes locked on me. With a sigh of relief, I nodded. “Air sounds great.”

I followed him through an expansive bedroom and out onto a balcony that overlooked the trees lining the house. The cool air kissed my cheeks, and I inhaled the fresh scent, already feeling less tense.

Zagan leaned against the railing, and I leaned against the side of the house across from him. Despite the reprieve that the fresh air had just brought me, I found myself slipping into the moments before I came up here. The moments with Zagan and all the forbidden desires he aroused inside of me. He was quite literally the spitting image of what I’d always been secretly attracted to, and having his attention fixed right on me made me painfully aware of how much I wanted to give into temptation.

“Better?” he asked.

I cleared my throat and tried to stamp down my attraction to this stranger. “Yes. Thank you.” I gestured behind us. “I don’t mean to be a party pooper. That’s just not my thing.”

He raised that pierced brow of his. “Orgies?”

I felt color rise up my cheeks with the mere word alone. None of it was my thing. Parties. Orgies. Sex in general. Hell, even being alone with a guy wasn’t something I did. But if I said that, I’d probably sound like a child to someone as experienced as him, and since Zagan was the only one here to talk to right now, I didn’t want him brushing me off for being lame. So instead of clarifying, I just nodded.

He shrugged. “Group activities aren’t for everyone. Especially with those guys.” He laughed and leaned back on his tattooed hands, which rested on the railing behind him.

“So you guys really do this after all your concerts?” I asked, more than a little curious about their rumored habits. It boggled my sheltered virgin mind—the idea of hooking up that often with complete strangers.

“More or less,” he answered.

“But you’re famous,” I said slowly.

His shoulders shook as he dipped his head in a laugh. “Yeah. I suppose we are. What’s your point?”

I twirled a strand of hair around my finger. “I don’t know. If I was famous, I’d be worried that one of my hook-ups would be crazy or something and go to the tabloids with some story or rumor just to get their ten seconds of fame.”

He bounced his head side to side like he was weighing my words. “I guess one could. I don’t really worry about it, though.”

What confidence he had. That seemed like such a risk, and I was baffled that he—or any of them—would take that chance, all to get their dicks wet for a bit.

Wanting to understand, I asked disbelievingly, “Do you really think sex is that good? Enough to risk your livelihood for it?”

The smirk that tugged the corner of his pierced lip up was downright sinful, especially when he wore it while letting his eyes rake over me. “Oh, Little Sparrow,” he purred, his voice turning into a sensual chuckle. “If you don’t think sex is that good, your partner hasn’t been doing it right.”

If only you knew.

I bit my lip to hide my smile and shrugged. “I guess he hasn’t.”

Zagan pushed off the railing of the balcony and approached like a predator zeroing in on their prey. Each step that brought him closer made my heart beat faster and my toes curl in my shoes. He stopped right in front of me, placing his hands on the wall on either side of my head. I held my breath as he leaned in close with those blue eyes locked right on mine.

“Why don’t we rectify that?” he asked huskily.

The embers that had been swirling around inside me all night flared with an all new warmth. My skin prickled with the need to have his hands on me. Never had I felt so hungry for someone. The throbbing between my legs made my breath catch in my throat, and I just knew he could do something to help that.

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